Published March 20, 2019 at 05:46PM / Updated March 20, 2019 at 07:08PM

Bend shopping center awaits Chick-fil-A groundbreaking

Chipotle plans drive-through for Robal Road Village

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Gary North, Central Oregon vice president at R&H Construction Co., walks into the Robal Road Village shopping center in January 2018. The shopping center will eventually be home to Chick-fil-A and Chipotle restaurants. (The Bulletin/file photo) - Bulletin

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Gary North, Central Oregon vice president at R&H Construction Co., walks into the Robal Road Village shopping center in January 2018. The shopping center will eventually be home to Chick-fil-A and Chipotle restaurants. (The Bulletin/file photo)8507028

Robal Road Village in Bend could see one of its most-anticipated tenants, Chick-fil-A, start construction this summer.

Meanwhile, Chipotle has filed plans with the city of Bend for a drive-thru restaurant on the shopping center’s last remaining vacant lot.

Chick-fil-A, a Georgia-based sandwich chain, obtained its building permit last October but requested an extension that would make it valid until Oct. 16, city of Bend spokeswoman Anne Aurand said. “A valid approved inspection needs to be completed by that date,” she said.

Representatives of Chick-fil-A, Chipotle and Robal Road Village owner First Western Development Services could not be reached for comment.

One of the professionals who work for Chick-fil-A relayed to a city staff member that construction could start in June or July, Senior Planner Aaron Henson said.

The company’s building contractor first needs to finish a Chick-fil-A in Beaverton, First Western executive Scott Shanks told Henson in an email.

The N. U.S. Highway 97 shopping center began seeing stores open in early 2018. The other highly anticipated restaurant chain, Cracker Barrel, opened its doors last month.

Chipotle, a California-based Mexican chain with one location already in Bend, is planning a 2,316-square-foot restaurant on a site that was previously approved by the city for a drive-thru restaurant, according to a plan filed March 13.

The stand-alone restaurant sites are north of the main shopping area, which includes Mod Pizza and Black Rock Coffee Bar. “It’s been one of the best openings in Oregon in quite a while,” said Jeff ­Hernandez, CEO of Black Rock, which has an executive office in Bend and locations in Oregon, Washington and other Western states.

Hernandez said he expects the coffee shop to be even busier once Chick-fil-A opens. “That was one of the reasons I picked Robal Road was knowing Chick-fil-A was going to come.”